The Technologists: A Novel (edition 2012)

My original review can be seen here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1A4PYWRSGMWKB

Please note: Read and reviewed in February 2012 from a copy provided by Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: In 1868, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) had been in operation for four years, and the first class was preparing for their graduation. "Technology" was a new word, and people were as skittish about the results of technology as more ancient people were of witchcraft - unionists raged against the idea of machines taking away work from people, more traditional colleges and universities raged against the ideals of the "ungodly" sciences being taught at MIT and, more sinisterly, someone began to use mysterious technologies to cause a series of disasters across Boston. Suspicion fell almost immediately, of course, upon the people who worked and studied at MIT. A small group of students, including the sole woman studying at MIT at the time, set out to discover what has caused the trouble and to stop in, in order to save not only the reputation of their college, but also the lives of many of the residents in Boston. Will they succeed?

My Thoughts: I read Pearl's earlier work, "The Dante Club," and really loved it, so had high expectations for this book. The mystery and suspense did not disappoint, nor did the details and research that went into the book. I had a hard time, however, connecting with the characters, and so often found myself enraged by the attitudes of the people in the story that I didn't really enjoy my time reading it. That's not, however, necessarily a bad thing - a strong reaction like that means that the author knows how to create a reaction, and that is important in writing a strong novel. People interested in the history of Boston, the history of the development of technology, and people who enjoy a suspenseful thriller will all enjoy this book. ( )

This was an entertaining book with the plot based on real science. Since the science was circa 1868, and since I am currently rereading my old college physics book, I was able to appreciate the finer points of that part of the story. However, there were two aspects of the book that bothered me. The first is the genre. Even though I write about parallel universes, writing something so historical and well described and then changing the past without any apology ... well. I mean, isn’t there a contradiction between the effort to make something realistic and possible, which Mr. Pearl does quite well, and then tossing it into the stream of time with too big a splash? I guess I prefer alternate futures to alternate pasts. The second problem was the style. I found it disturbingly disjointed at a sentence to sentence level, as if the overall picture was fine but I had started looking at it pixel by pixel and could see those that were left uncolored. But then, I like details, and perhaps filling in all the blanks for the reader would have been too much.

Having looked up the author's quite impressive credentials, you'd better take my criticism of his style with a grain of salt. :-) ( )

Not really a thriller, this is a very well written fictional account of the early days of one of the most revered institutes. Loved it. ( )

This is an ingenious historical thriller from an author who has made his name with highly literary novels featuring key men of letters from the American 19th century addressing violent crime in Boston.

This new novel uses the birth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its rivalry with Harvard as the basis of an intriguing and complex scientific mystery. A team of students at MIT are the only people able to fully understand the wave of science-based terrorism striking Boston and use their newly acquired scientific methods and skills to understand the strange events happening across the city and ultimately to solve the mysteries of who and why.

The social mores of mid-19th century Boston are played out very well and that they seem strange to modern readers is a clear reflection of how society has changed in the last 150 years. Some of the relationships - the misogynist aristocrat-type and the proto-feminist chemist, for example - clearly telegraph their eventual untangling. In general, the characters ring true and the cast is just large and varied enough to keep the reader guessing to the end.

With a less literary bent than his earlier books, Pearl has produced a fresh and exciting novel that makes this a standout in the field. ( )

A group of college chums race against time to save Boston from the evil engineering mind of ..... who cares. But more about that later.

The year is 1868 and the first ever batch of students is about to graduate from the recently founded Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This very beginning was tentative to say the least with the populace suspicious of the sinister scientific progress and Harvard inmates nervous of close quarter competition. Students were plucked from Army units, local railroad works and steam engine factories. We follow a couple of them as they try to protect the institute from accusations of having causes the spectacular and mysterious events lately. True to life the very first women college student, engineer and future scientist also joins the team of otherwise typical English proto-dons.

It must be said that the alchemical explosions and other events have been fiendishly plotted and come across as completely believable if they weren't just a tad over the top. Ironically within the elaborate afterword there is no mention as to how realistically destructive the inventions truly could have been. Chemical engineering and mass destruction is unfortunately the most interesting part of the novel. The characters blend together and none of them stand out as real human beings. Sure they are brave or cowardly or some other such typical description but the author doesn't go beyond that.

There are plenty of suspects but in the end the author ticks them off one by one but no matter how elaborately the next potential is unmasked as innocent we don't really believe any of their motivations. Especially not the motivation of the one who in the end is responsible. But at that point you don't care but just want the novel to be over with.

Many passages in the book do not contribute one bit to the story and don't even function as red herrings or much needed mood amplifiers. The best example of this is the chapter 'Farewell, Boston', which describes the choices and resulting experiences of one incredibly trivial character. It is even difficult to remember where he first appeared. This novel is full of such bits and pieces and it makes reading the story tedious. Characters who had much potential are either quietly moved off stage or killed off.

The many chemical and engineering ideas were wonderful and some of the diabolical inventions were diabolically invented by the author. But it seems that that's where most of the effort went and where it really counts (the flawed but interesting characters) the author stopped working. ( )